Pawprints in the Swamp
by MissFaerieKaiti
Summary: Neji used to think he always had himself under control. Now, as he quests for a certain animal, he realizes he had let himself slip from the very beginning; and he must pay the consequences while trying to satisfy a bloodthirsty village. What to do, what to do? /OneShot, NejiTen\


**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAYLOR-CHAN! 8DDDD**

**To all you other readers, this is my second NejiTen fic, and just like the last one, it's dedicated to Taylor (Ciel and Lizzy 4ever) for her birthday! Yayz!**

**Oh, but there's something else I need to tell you. ...Actually, hmm, maybe I should tell you at the end. It's not exactly a spoiler, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? I thought so.**

**SO. Cue Sakura for the disclaimer! =DD *winkwink, nudgenudge Taylor* xP**

**Sakura: Kaiti doesn't own Naruto or its characters. And there's something else that Kaiti doesn't exactly own, but she's paranoid, so I'll be adding what that is when you reach the end of the story. Enjoy! Cha!**

* * *

_Where? Where?_

_He couldn't find her. The place looked so much different now, even though it had been only a few short years since he had left._

_Now, there were humans shouting at him. Many more children than he'd thought existed in the world were screaming and running from him. Fire – searing flames that brought back terrible memories – was attacking him, being thrown by the humans._

_The beloved trees he once knew had all disappeared. In their places stood large, hollow boxes that the humans used much like caves._

_Worst of all, _she_ was nowhere to be found._

_But she had to be here, right? Where else could she be?_

_No, she _had_ to be here._

_He was chased back to his temporary home, and as he splashed through the water, he made a promise to himself._

_He would come back. In seven suns, and then again, and again. As long as it took to find her._

_And he would keep it a secret from his pet._

* * *

Neji stood stoically between his two teammates Tenten and Lee as Gai introduced them to their client.

"We're the greatest team this side of the border! Don't you worry; we'll finish this mission in _half_ the time anyone else would. That's a promise!" their sensei finished, giving their client a thumbs-up.

"Gai-sensei?"

"What do you need, Tenten?"

"Don't you think we should ask for the details of the mission before making rash promises?"

"But, Tenten, regardless of what the mission involves, we will still be able to finish twice as quickly as any other team!" Lee interrupted.

_Ridiculous,_ Neji found himself thinking for the millionth time. Couldn't they get anything done without all the theatrics and boasting?

Eventually, however, they managed to get the details from their client, the mayor of the little town in the middle of nowhere.

"We have been having attacks at least twice every week," he started.

"Enemy ninja?" Gai asked.

"No, it's a bear. It's been terrorizing my villagers at night – we had an attack just last night, in fact. It doesn't take anything away with it, but it breaks and ruins so many things (like food), we may not last through the winter if it continues. We need you to do something about that monster. Now."

"Where does it come from?" Gai asked.

The mayor shook his head helplessly. "I'm never near the edge of the town when it comes, so I don't know."

Silence fell momentarily as the Konoha shinobi thought.

Finally, Tenten spoke up. "How do we handle this, Gai-sensei? Should we just wait for its next attack and take care of it then?"

"Out of the question!" Lee said emphatically. "Gai-sensei, I have no doubts that we can stop it if we take Tenten's approach, but I do not wish to risk these people's safety for even a moment that way!"

"That's my favorite student – always thinking of others!" Gai agreed.

"In that case, we should find out from the villagers where it comes from, so we can take care of it on its own grounds," Neji said.

"Excellent! You're learning well, my young pupils!" Gai said, nodding. "Split up!"

Naturally, Gai wanted them to 'split up' into pairs. And naturally, their sensei claimed Lee as his partner. So Neji and Tenten went to question the people on the west side of the village together.

Not that Neji minded always getting partnered up with Tenten. He'd never slapped a label on anything he felt for her beyond the fact she annoyed him less than their other teammate and their sensei, but he did enjoy her company.

And he enjoyed that she did all of the talking and let him be the intimidating ninja that gave people 'the look' that warned them to tell only the truth.

In the end, when they'd interviewed a good number of people (mostly angry ones that gave violent and gory suggestions on how to handle the situation) and narrowed it down to the most trustworthy sources, they still were left with two answers: from the mountains to the north, and the swamps to the south.

They met back up with Gai and Lee and compared findings.

"Looks like we have two beasts on our hands here!" Gai said. "Lee and I will take the one on the mountain. Neji and Tenten, you two find the one in the swamp. Meet back here when you have the bear or have good reason to think it doesn't exist."

"Sir!"

They went their separate ways.

* * *

Neji felt the ground suddenly sponge under his foot, and he moved a step away to where the earth was still solid. Once he and Tenten were a good distance into the swamp, he activated his Byakugan.

They were looking for a bear. Aside from tracks and the bear itself, Neji tried to keep an open mind as to what sorts of clues they were looking for. Unfortunately, keeping an eye out for so many things at once was more difficult than knowing exactly what he was looking for.

"See anything?" Tenten asked after a few moments of quiet.

Neji didn't answer right away; he just kept scanning the area. A few squirrels darted here and there, an owl swooped from a tree, and a few deer paced. Snakes, crocodiles, woodpeckers, and beavers all were within sight. But he couldn't see the bear anywhere, and the ground was so wet in so many places that tracks tended to vanish quickly. And it didn't help that the swamp itself was huge. It would take a while traveling anywhere, even for ninja.

He switched tactics. He tried finding any areas where the bear might be living.

Finally, he turned off his Byakugan. "I didn't find the bear, but I did see a few places where it's possible he has been living."

Tenten nodded. "Lead the way."

So he did.

On their way to one of them, they found bear tracks leading from one body of water to another just a few feet away.

"Is this bear swimming everywhere it goes? No animal is that conscientious about its tracks," Tenten said in disbelief.

"At least we know there is a bear here," Neji said.

"That also means, Mr. Positive, that we won't be leaving until we find it," Tenten grumbled, but her smile ruined the intended effect.

It also had an unintended side effect. For a moment, when she directed that smile at him, he forgot how to breathe.

Being the strong silent type, though, he thought he managed to hide it pretty well.

"Hn. Deal with it."

She made a face at him.

* * *

That night, they made camp on as high ground as possible and cooked fish for a decent supper.

"Do you think Gai-sensei and Lee will find a bear, too?" Tenten asked between bites. "Or maybe is there only one bear that likes to travel between the mountains and the swamp?"

"Don't know."

"Maybe these two bears are looking for each other! Wouldn't that be so sweet, if they were lovers and somehow lost each other, and now they're trying to find each other again?"

Neji gave her a curious look.

Tenten immediately blushed and stared down at her stick of half-eaten fish. "I-I mean, it's just a thought."

Neji smirked and bit into his third fish.

Tenten bristled. "It's not like I really think about that yuppy sort of stuff, Hyuga! Can't a girl say something without people jumping to conclusions?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, too amused to say anything in response.

"Ugh, you are the _worst_ company _ever_, you know!"

"Why bother adding to the show you do so well on your own?"

"I'm gonna strangle you if you don't take that back," she warned.

He couldn't resist. "Who knew, when we split up with Gai-sensei and Lee, that I would still get dinner and a show tonight?"

It was a good thing he had begun moving as he was speaking, because before he even finished, Tenten was lunging at him.

"Hyuga! I'll wipe that smirk off your face!" Tenten laughed.

Neji simply continued moving just out of her reach. She changed tactics and started trying to predict his moves and get in front of him.

Suddenly, the ground simply swallowed her up, not giving her time to yelp or anything.

"Tenten!"

Neji hurled a kunai with a wire attached into the trunk of a nearby tree and, keeping hold of the end of the wire, dove in after her.

Pitch black and absolute silence and no air greeted him.

Where was she? He wriggled down deeper, hoping that she hit bottom not too much farther down.

A hand grabbed his ankle.

Neji jerked at the wire, pulling himself and Tenten back to the surface. For a while, they sat there coughing up decayed vegetation and dirt; then Tenten laughed shakily.

"Thanks," she said. "I owe you one."

Was it wrong that he found her attractive (even more so than normal) even covered in mud?

"Repay me by not strangling me."

It was wrong, wasn't it?

She gave an overly-dramatic sigh. "Fine. I guess suffocation _is_ a pretty awful way to go."

Probably on such a high level of wrongness that he shouldn't even have to ask.

"Get yourself cleaned up and then get some sleep, Tenten. I'll take first watch tonight."

* * *

Once they settled in for the night, time passed without any problems. Neji didn't see any predators during his watch. Later, he woke Tenten for her turn and lay down to try and sleep some himself.

He found himself studying her in the darkness, both during his own watch and when he was supposedly sleeping. Her long eyelashes, quiet breathing, dark hair put into two buns.

He found himself thinking of another time, when he was still innocent and ignorant to all the dark details of the world, when his father was still alive. It had been Hinata's third birthday, and he had whispered to his father that his cousin looked nice that day.

But now, instead of his cousin, it was his teammate. And '_nice_' didn't necessarily go far enough. In fact, it might even be an insult to the tough kunoichi that always had his back and guarded his blind spot in battle.

He attributed his wandering thoughts to tiredness, and he closed his eyes to try and truly go to sleep. But he couldn't exactly stop his last waking thought:

_She looks radiant tonight, Father. Don't you think?_

* * *

The next morning, Tenten woke him with a canteen of water splashed on his face. Neji jerked upright, spluttering in a very un-stoically-Hyuga way and shaking the water from his face and hair.

Just a few feet away, Tenten was collapsed in laughter.

In seconds, Neji had her pinned against a tree. She either didn't or couldn't avoid him, as she was still laughing helplessly.

"You realize this means war, don't you?" he said. "I can outdo your ridiculous prank faster than you can blink."

She finally managed to get her giggles under control. "Is there some way I can apologize instead?"

_Kiss me,_ was on the tip of Neji's tongue, but he managed to bite it just in time. He had somehow justified his previous thoughts concerning her by telling himself he wasn't totally serious. But just as they had come unbidden, so too did this last one - and serious or not, it wasn't really something that should be going through his head.

He had to get his mind under better control, or he would _really_ start slipping up – to where she would notice.

"Just one thing comes to mind," he said, casually throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her to the water's edge. He ignored her flailing limbs and pleas of mercy. Instead, he dropped her into the swamp water.

She came back up in less than a second, pushing her bangs from her eyes and still laughing. "Not cool! I only splashed you!"

"But you did it while I was asleep. A full-body dunking evens things out."

Several minutes later, they managed to settle down and start their search for the bear again. They had probably scared off most of the closer animals with all their messing around that morning, but it didn't take too long before they started seeing the swamp animals again. They found a couple more places with bear tracks, but none of them were enough to lead anywhere.

A couple times, they saw crocodiles in the distance, but they easily managed to avoid the creatures that had more interest in fish than humans.

"We should have left someone in the village," Neji realized at some point in the day. Why hadn't they thought of it sooner? "The bear could attack the village anytime while we're out here scouring the swamp and mountains for any sign of it."

Tenten's face morphed to one of shock as what he said sank in. "Neji, maybe I should go back. You keep searching with your Byakugan, and I'll make sure the villagers stay safe."

Neji nodded once, activating his kekkei genkai as his teammate jumped off in the direction from which they'd come.

How hard was it supposed to be to find just one animal? And a big one, at that?

Suddenly, he stopped and frowned. What was that, up ahead? Signs of a human living in the swamp?

He was about to take a closer look when something else demanded his immediate attention.

Tenten.

Fighting.

Against the bear.

And losing.

* * *

Neji ordered the panic from his throat as he ran at top speed towards the fight. He would make it in time, he assured himself. Tenten would be fine.

But if she wasn't, that bear would pay.

Neji was closing in but still too far away to do anything when the bear made a quick swipe with his paw and knocked Tenten to the ground.

She wasn't moving.

The bear towered over her, easily ten feet tall, and very battle-scarred. It raised a paw again to finish her off, but Neji managed to tackle it just in time.

"Gentle fist!"

He sent the bear staggering several yards back. As it recovered, Neji moved his hands and feet into proper formation, standing between the conscious but unmoving Tenten and the vicious threat that was their mission target.

The bear growled.

"Paws off my girl," Neji growled in response, not thinking of the fact that the animal couldn't understand him.

He switched his stance slightly as the bear began to charge. "Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms. Two palms!" He attacked. "Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms!"

He pushed the bear back continuously with each consecutive attack.

"Thirty-two palms!"

He was about to deliver the final blow when another force slammed into Neji and knocked him away from the bear.

"Are ya'll crazy?" shouted a voice. "Stop threatening him and he'll leave you alone, I swear!"

Neji caught his balance and glared at the bear's rescuer: a tall, rugged man probably in his late twenties. The man turned to the bear and began speaking calmly but firmly.

"Woah, Hubert, calm down, buddy. Lemme handle this, kay? I won't let them hurt you more," he said.

Neji watched with eyes narrowed in suspicion as the bear elbowed the man. It apparently wasn't too hard, though, because the man barely moved. Finally, the bear huffed in annoyance and sat down.

"See?" the man said to Neji, almost smugly.

Neji glared at him and bent to help Tenten to her feet. She still seemed dazed, looking from Neji to the man and bear and back again in amazement.

"I'm Isamu," the man said. "The bear is Hubert, my best friend. I couldn't let you kill him."

"He's been attacking the nearby village," Neji said. "Once or twice each week. Our mission is to either bring him in or bring him down."

"Ninja," Isamu scoffed. "You don't care about right or wrong, just the mission."

"Is it right that many people will starve this winter thanks to Hubert?" Tenten shot back, apparently recovering well. "You said he doesn't attack unless provoked. Pray tell, what have those people done to upset him?"

"They invaded his land," Isamu said simply. "Used to be a forest where that fancy-looking town stands, y'know. But they burned it all down so they could live there easier. It was all I could do to get Hubert to safety here in the swamp. We don't need more intruders stealing our home _again_."

Apparently, Isamu lived in the swamp. Somehow, looking at the man, Neji didn't find _that_ part difficult to believe.

"It still doesn't change the fact that you're letting him terrorize all those people," Tenten insisted.

"I wasn't letting him," Isamu retorted. "I had no idea where he was going when he disappeared once a week."

Neji folded his arms across his chest to listen to the conversation, mentally making calculations to see if this man was being honest or not.

"Sure it's not twice a week?" Tenten asked with a trace of sarcasm.

"Twice a week," Isamu muttered. His eyes rounded and he slapped Hubert the bear on the shoulder. "Hugh, she's looking for you too!" he said, giving a loud cheer for good measure that probably had all the animals within a half mile radius ducking for cover.

"Excuse me?" Neji asked, glancing at Tenten. Her expression was stuck somewhere between '_huh?_' and '_I told you so!_' as she looked back at him.

Neji might've tried tickling the smug look from her face if Isamu wasn't with them.

Then again, tickling her might not be all that great for the tough, expressionless reputation he had going for him.

"Back before the forest burned down, when he was just a cub, he had another bear friend – I think the only other bear that the hunters didn't get to yet. I wasn't sure she made it through the fire, but now I hear there's more bear attacks on the village than what I know Hubert could've caused; that's the only answer, right? Do ya'll know where she is?" Isamu looked like he could hardly hold still, he was so excited.

Neji and Tenten exchanged glances again. After a brief silent conversation, they seemed to agree that reuniting the two bears could put an end to their rampages on the village.

"The mountains," Tenten finally said aloud. "The other bear has been coming from the mountain area north of here."

Isamu gave a loud whoop, slapping Hubert on the shoulder again, who didn't seem to feel it at all. "Hear that, buddy? We're going on a road trip!"

"We'll escort you," Neji said before Isamu and Hubert could leave.

"No, thanks," Isamu said, pushing Hubert to get him moving. The bear yawned and slowly got into walking position, a perfect contrast to what his behavior had been like in battle. Even his scars weren't as obvious. "We don't need no babysitters."

"It's our job," Tenten said firmly.

Isamu glared at the two ninja. "Ya'll just wanna get us to your friends so you can kill Hubert."

Hubert made a loud noise of protest.

"Aw, sorry, buddy. Bad word choice."

"Isamu, we swear, if you're right, our mission will be over. We're here to make sure the attacks stop, not necessarily to ki—" she broke off suddenly, glancing at the bear, then hurried on, "to use force. We just fought earlier because, well..."

"Brute force is usually how these missions end up going anyways," Neji finished. "Even supposedly-peaceful missions."

"Right," Tenten agreed, nodding.

Isamu looked skeptically at them. "You won't hurt us. Just follow us?"

Neji and Tenten nodded, and Tenten put a hand over her heart in silent pledge for emphasis.

Isamu grinned. "Then what're we waiting for?"

They set out, bear and all.

* * *

"Neji, what if Gai-sensei and Lee have already found and killed the other bear?" Tenten whispered as they walked behind Isamu and Hubert – which Neji found to be a really weird name, by the way.

"I don't believe in Lee's ability to kill an animal unless he had to," Neji whispered back. "If they found it—"

"Her," Tenten interrupted.

"If they found her," Neji continued, "they probably just tied her up and are planning to move her somewhere else."

"In which case they would be taking her back to the villagers, who want her dead," Tenten added, no doubt remembering all the curses they'd heard from the villagers as they'd questioned them that first day. "Neji, we need to go into town and make sure."

"Isamu won't be happy with that idea."

"Well he won't be happy, either, if we can't find her in the mountains!"

"Good point."

Tenten gave him an exasperated look when he didn't say more. "So what's the plan, O Brilliant One?"

"First."

Tenten nodded eagerly.

"No nicknames."

She glared at him.

"Second, you're forgetting my Byakugan. Once we get close enough, I'll take a look and find out if Gai-sense and Lee and the bear are anywhere in the town."

"And if they're there?"

"You have more diplomacy skills than me. You could go and convince them of Isamu's crazy story and get them to bring the bear back out here."

Tenten nodded, relaxing somewhat. Then Neji saw her expression change again, to sly and cautiously hopeful. But before she could say anything, Isamu popped up between them suddenly.

"It ain't good to keep secrets!" he said, giving them each a hard look. "What's going on back here?"

"We were just wondering if Hubert was always this laid-back when he's on a quest for his friend," Tenten said. "At the rate we're going, it's going to take a while to reach the mountains."

Isamu frowned. "He'd be moving faster if ya'll hadn't tried to kill him just now."

"Good point," Tenten hurried to say. "Sorry."

"Speaking of which," Neji added as Isamu left them alone again, "how are you feeling after your fight with him?"

"He just knocked the wind out of me and bruised me up a little. I'm fine," Tenten said. "But..." She hesitated, then lost her chance for whatever she was going to say when Isamu started singing loudly and tried to get everyone else to join in.

Hubert joined without delay, making all sorts of bear noises trying to sing along. Tenten just mumbled when Isamu coaxed her to sing. Neji firmly pressed his lips into a thin line and refused to say anything other than "Ridiculous" a couple of times – and no, he did not sing the word.

* * *

That night, Neji and Tenten again took turns keeping watch. Neither one was exactly comfortable with Isamu's offer that he and Hubert each take a turn, but Isamu didn't seem offended when they told him just to sleep and let the ninja stay up and watch over their safety. He did, however, subtly suggest that it wouldn't be appreciated if they tried to hurt him or Hubert in the night.

Finally, Neji was the only one awake. He sighed in relief as the sounds of the night settled in, and Isamu was no longer giving him distrustful glances every five minutes.

It also gave him a chance to think.

Then again, that was probably dangerous, given all the things concerning Tenten that had been running through his head lately. No, wait, it wasn't just lately. It had been slowly developing since they had become a squad – he was just truly noticing it now because it had somehow gotten out of hand.

Neji prided himself on not letting his emotions get to him, especially on missions. That pride had only been strengthened as Naruto had started him on the road to forgiveness towards his clan.

But now it seemed he needed to reevaluate that sense of accomplishment.

Maybe if he identified the reason for his Tenten-centered thoughts, he could push them into the background when he needed to concentrate.

She was great at using every weapon she ever handled. Her aim was flawless. Neji could sit almost on top of a target dummy as she aimed for the dummy's vital spot two inches away and trust that she wouldn't even graze him.

She was, without a doubt, a tomboy, but she had a certain grace to her every move, too. She had a sense of humor, and could tolerate and even manage their loud and hyper teammate and sensei. She was a great training partner.

And even outside missions and training, it wasn't awkward or boring being with her. Her personality was a good kind of contrast to his. And the way she would look at him sometimes...

Wait, if he kept this up, he'd be thinking about her _more_, not less – the exact opposite of what he wanted to accomplish!

That's when it hit him, like that cold swamp water she'd splashed on him that morning.

He _liked_ her. Neji Hyuga had a crush on his teammate.

Great. Just great. And just his luck, too.

He would figure out what to do about this _after_ their mission. Until then, it could wait. It _would_ wait. Whether it wanted to or not.

Next to pride, stubbornness was one thing Neji was pretty good at.

* * *

The next day, they made it out of the swamp and started keeping to one side to avoid the town. Neji made sure Isamu was distracted before he activated his Byakugan and looked over at the village and its people.

Strange that most of the people were clustered in one place.

And then Neji saw the reason.

"Tenten! We have to get into the village; they're about to kill the bear!" he said urgently.

Hubert roared in protest, accompanied by Isamu's "_Whaaaaat?_"

Tenten took off without hesitation, and Neji would have followed, but Isamu grabbed his shirt.

"What kinda trick are you playing?" he growled. "You just want us in the village, supposedly to rescue Hugh's pal, and when we start breaking stuff you'll have us in ropes faster than an arrow can fly! As if you could know what's happening in town right now."

Neji could have gotten out of Isamu's grip; the man was strong, but probably not too much of a threat to the Gentle Fist technique. But he chose to hold still and look Isamu in the eye.

"Go ahead and stay here if you want. Tenten might be able to stop it in time. But even if she gets there before the ax falls, that mob looked hungry for blood. They might not listen to her. She's strong, but even she can't keep an entire village away from that bear for long, especially without killing anyone. As for being able to know it, I'm a ninja. With a special kekkei genkai in my eyes."

Neji waited for his words to sink in. He saw the moment Isamu realized he was telling the truth, and he also saw the moment Isamu made his decision.

"Hugh, let's go save her!"

Isamu hopped on Hubert's back and Neji ran beside the bear into the town.

* * *

When they got to the place where everyone had gathered, Tenten was shouting above the crowd's noise, arguing for the story Isamu had told them. Gai-sensei was listening with a serious expression, nodding thoughtfully. Lee was listening with tears streaming down his face; his lips seemed to be forming the word 'beautiful' over and over again. Next to Neji's three teammates, the female bear Isamu had spoken of was roped up so she couldn't move.

"Shedding innocent blood is wrong, no matter how you look at it!" Tenten yelled. "Spare this animal, and we can promise you she won't bother you ever again!"

Hubert roared upon seeing his bear friend up on a wooden platform, all tied up. A man wielding a rather large blade stood near the bear they were trying to save.

The crowd became deadly silent for a few seconds as they turned to see the other bear that had been a menace lately. Then one woman screamed, "It's not tied up! The ninja have turned against us!"

The rest of the crowd also took up screams and shouts.

Neji could've slapped himself. What had he been thinking, bringing Hubert into the village?

"People!" Tenten shouted. "PEOPLE! He's not here to hurt you; he just wants his friend back!"

They weren't listening. Instead, they were inching their way menacingly towards Neji, Isamu, and Hubert.

"Run," Neji told Isamu.

"What?" Isamu said angrily. "Not a chance!"

"Run!" Neji insisted. Then movement on stage caught his attention.

Tenten had whipped out a kunai and was sawing through the female bear's ropes. Gai joined her after a second, and Lee started hopping on people's heads, running towards Neji.

Finally, the female bear was free. She stood upright with a triumphant roar, which Hubert responded to with a roar of his own. She and Hubert barreled through the crowd to each other, and fortunately Lee saved anyone from getting trampled. He removed his leg weights and quickly brought each citizen safely out of the bears' way, before any of them even realized what was happening.

The two bears tackled, then began nuzzling, each other, making contented bear noises.

"So beautiful!" Lee cried. "Look how they have found each other again after all this time!"

Gai took advantage of the crowd's temporary amazement, before they could remember they wanted these bears dead.

"Good people of this marvelous town, we ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village promised to protect you from these bears! And we will! Spare yourselves the horrors of bloodshed, and we will relocate these bears from your area to a forest where they can live happily, far from any people or villages. Will you trust us?" he asked, his loud voice rippling across the crowd.

Neji held his breath, for once thinking that his sensei's overly-dramatic way of speaking might be a good thing.

The people muttered to one another for a few moments.

Then, one by one, they started cheering.

Neji saw Tenten, up in front next to Gai, heave a sigh of relief.

Isamu, next to Neji, gave a loud whoop. "They're safe! They're gonna be alright!" He turned sheepishly to Neji. "Don't know why I doubted ya'll. Thanks."

"Will you be coming with?" Neji asked.

Isamu looked over at Hubert. "Yeah. Ain't nothing for me in this or any town. I'll be with Hugh and keep any hunters and firebugs away from their new home."

* * *

After everything calmed down, but before Team Gai began to head out, Neji found Tenten up on a hill, looking over everything.

"We did it," she breathed. "What a different mission from how it looked at the start."

"Hn," Neji said in agreement.

Tenten turned to look at him, and he couldn't read her expression. "When Hubert and I were fighting, and then you came in..." She hesitated, then rushed on. "You said something. What was that about the whole 'paws off my girl' thing?"

Neji felt his face heat up at the memory.

He had a lot of responses he could make. He could feign ignorance; he could tell her she was dazed and didn't hear him right; he could just tell her he had needed something to shout as a sort of in-the-moment trash-talk type of thing.

Instead, he just said, "Got a problem with being a Hyuga's girl?"

Tenten inhaled sharply, then grinned. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Stay so calm. I'd be a mess if I tried saying something like that."

She obviously didn't know how fast his heart was racing, and apparently his face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Guess it's part of the whole no-showing-emotion ninja thing."

She stepped forward slightly, and he moved towards her as well. Not much distance separated them, but it still felt like a brick wall as Neji waited for Tenten's response.

"Just promise me something," she said.

"What's that?" he asked.

"No more dropping me in swamp water."

"Is there something else I can do instead?"

"Just one thing comes to mind." She leaned forward and kissed him softly.

When she started to move away, Neji slipped one hand gently behind her neck. "You stole my line," he murmured. "That means I get another kiss."

She laughed quietly and obliged.

* * *

**And they all lived happily ever after, the end. x33 Hope you liked it, especially you, Taylor! 8333 Sakura, you'd probably better add what I made you skip there in the beginning.**

**Sakura: Kaiti's crazy Economics teacher is the one that gave her Hubert's background story and name, so kinda sorta gave her the idea for this story. He also tried naming Isamu Isaiah, but Kaiti decided to go with something Japanese instead. See? Told you she was being paranoid.**

**Kaiti: Pssh, whatever, it's better to err on the side of caution. xD ANYWAYS, please leave a review before you go! Thank you so much for reading! 8DD**


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